Today I wanted to show a late row of dwarf French beans. It is really too late but I hoped they would crop just before the frosts. However I needed to clear the weeds from the patch. I started using the hoe but soon found that some of the bigger weeds were so well rooted it was easier to just pull them. The leaf mould I spread on the soil last autumn meant it was very friable so I abandoned the hoe completely and pulled everything by hand, taking great care with the nettles! Having cleared a strip between a row of peas and a row of dwarf French beans I realised there was not enough room for the beans so abandoned that idea and moved on to weeding the beans and peas either side which took some time.

- I added the weeds to the compost heap making a quite a heap on top.


The onions (hidden amongst the weeds beyond the fork) should also have been lifted some time ago. I used the fork to loosen the roots under them but didn't have time to lift them before going home so left it to my next visit.